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Twitter vs. Capital One's Reputation. Twitter vs. "*"

I have to admit, I underestimated the power of Twitter for awhile — but now that Twitter helped to organize a national uprising in Iran, I've reconsidered a bit.

I opened my Capital One statement this month and I noticed an APR hike from 10%->17%. When I called, there was no reason they could give me except some vague nonsense about the economy. No recourse — none. He was obviously operating out of some call center in some country thousands of miles away. My only recourse after pressing for awhile is to fax a letter to some invisible office regarding my 70% rate hike. I might just do that, even if I zero out the card.

OK, but this has to be relevant somehow, right? Let's get that —

I Tweeted something, searched for others — and even followed some of them. Hundreds of tweets I can't (politely) repeat on this blog. I did, however, notice one set of Tweets in particular:

Capital One customer meets Fox News anchor? Interesting how efficient that was — interesting in the same way that Twitter organized a national uprising in Iran.

Twitter will be causing a bunch of reputation management problems for guys in suits

And because some of them outsource their customer relations entirely — Capital One included — they might not know until the viral process gains traction and has started to wreak irreparable damage to their brand. They may indeed monitor Twitter — but there's little they can do if the complaints are real and it's not just a misunderstanding — except perhaps reevaluate said business practices. Even then, if they wait too long, the damage is done.

And Capital One doesn't have guns like the Iranian Basij Militiamen

When and if anyone gets upset, Twitter provides a very easy viral starting point. If Twitter potentially upsets a government, it may cause Capital One to treat customers better.

Twitter is a major threat to anyone managing the reputation of a brand — and even a country

If I were some guy in a suit, I'd be watching closely. It's clear that some companies are watching, and do resolve complaints as a result of a renegade employee or genuine misunderstanding — but if there motives are actually malicious, there's very little they can do to put out the fire.

Perhaps in the case that it's a result of some sort of mismanagement at a lower level it can be effective to do that. In fact, it may even be a helpful tool for these companies — and if the company is acting ethically and responsibly, they can work to resolve the complaint. Ideally, they'd address the complaint before it gains any traction — or it might be an isolated event entirely.

However, in the case of Capital One, I see hundreds of complaints, and no obvious instances of resolution found. I encountered the same thing. In this case, Twitter is a threat rather than a tool.

Iran presents perhaps a similar situation in a much larger organism. The ayatollahs know they are disliked by the majority of the population. However, despite the electronic surveillance at their disposal, social networking sent shockwaves through the government.

Twitter is only not a threat if the entity in question is benevolent. Capital One can contact people on Twitter any time they'd like to. It doesn't appear that they are doing so.

My point is simple. Yes, many well-managed brands watch their brand on Twitter to a degree — but the magnitude of the threat may be underestimated if (in my opinion) it almost caused a "e-coup."

That would have been an interesting chapter in the history books, and it could still be. It's harder to pull a stunt when it's so easy to network — whether it be fraudulent elections or questionable business practices en-masse that are in no way linked to interest rates or customer behavior.

I have to entirely disagree with Peter above on "most major companies have a team dedicated to keeping an eye on social media."

Most major companies DO NOT have any clue what conversations are happening about them. CEO, VPs, and Directors are often thinking "someone else has it covered" while they fail to connect how social media is affecting the channel they reside over.

Many large companies have gone a step further and believe the agency of note is doing this for them, but the agencies of note don't even do it for themselves.

It is a gross overstatement to think that most big companies know what they are doing in social media or how it relates to different cycles of business.

ann jongema

I was with Capital One for over 25 years. My interest rate was at 6.6% and my credit score was 860. I received no letters from Capital One and got a bill at 16% interest rate. This month it jumped to 16.99 and I received a final bill today(as I cancelled my account with over $13.00 interest on a 70.00 bill. I wrote the CEO advising that I was not typing a formal letter as his company was not worth it. I called customer service which appears to be in India. Could not understand them. Talked to a supervisor which told me it was a "business decision." Never late on fees or transactions. Was told I was not keeping over a 15,000.00 balance so my rates were increased.

Since then I have cancelled my account, after 25 years. I dont need them. I have wrote several on line places to acknowledge my complaint.

My best advise for everyone. If you can cancel when a company continues bad business practices, do so. Word of mouth is the BEST advertisement. I have spoken to aquintances, friends, neighbors, business associates and relaties urging them to look at their bills and cancel. Close relatives, I am helping them out to get rid of Capital One/Chase(same company) and finding them someone that does honest transactions.

The only way to send a message is the pocket book.
There are plenty of credit cards that, with decent credit, you can get a card and transfer balances from bad companies. Even if you pay the same rate it may be worth it.

Twitter has really allowed for many businesses to think about how they act. In the next 5 years I bet we will see small Twitter departments popping up for businesses all over in order to combat situations like this.

Capital One Employee

The reason people's rates are being raised is because of legislature that was passed which outlaws rate hikes starting spring of 2010. Right now ALL credit card companies are raising rate on customers they think might be risky because in a few months they won't be able to do this.

@ann jongema: imho, the highest FICO credit score possible is 850. Some great credit advice is to keep accounts open, and use it only if you have the cash on hand to back it up. Your credit limit and score is partially dependent on your history. Closing the account makes you look irresponsible to the credit companies (I'd like to give a nod to the forums on creditboards.com for teaching everything I know about credit, if you want to know more in-depth go ask there).

Lynn Johannson

I was conducting a reptuation review on this company for a project related to small business. It seems like there are a large number of complaints. But I am curious, to whom did you turn your business? We all need? depend? on credit cards to play online until the alternatives are developed/better known. Who do you trust with your credit card business now? I really would like to hear from people on this.

Managing your brand on twitter is extremely difficult and on Facebook to some extent, although it can be moderated slightly better here. I use Ubervu to find out where our brand has been mentioned and what people think about it. Anything negative I usually react to openly in a positive way and try to deal with the situation. Crisis management is an essential part of Social Media and shouldn't be ignored.

A good way to get your brand rated as we have been finding in recent times is through online retailer review websites.

If you are in the e-commerce game get people to voice what they think of the product and / or service it is you sell and then use this to your advantage. This is the downside of trading online, and for us this has been our feedback tool of choice. This may not however be the same for eveyone!

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